Notes:14.1 Mackay
shows the first Egyptian commemorative as the 1922 issue, a 1914 definitive
overprinted in Arabic with the words "The Kingdom of Egypt, 15th March 1922". I
suppose this is strictly true, but it is rather an lacklustre stamp. I also
offer the first 'real' commemorative, the 1925 Thoth writing the name of King
Fuad for the International Geographical Congress, Cairo, an altogether more
attractive sight.14.2 Egypt was my first real obsession in stamps and so I
will indulge myself here. The first airmail is good, but the second is
magnificent - this was the stamp which drew me to collect Egypt in the first
place. So in it goes.14.3 Mackay regards the first British Honduras Charity as the
1916 War issue. Scott's B!, however, is a 1932 issue for hurricane relief in
Belize.14.4 For Serbia, Scott starts with 4 imperforate stamps of 1
and 2 paras not listed in Gibbons Simplified.14.5 The Serbian Official stamp was issued under German
Occupation.14.6 Scott and Gibbons
disagree on the date of the first El Salvador airmail, 1929 and 1930
respectively.14.7 Heligoland is another
case where Scott makes many more distinctions (in terms of perforations and
paper) than Gibbons Simplified. The price quoted in my Scott Classic 2001 for
the SC1 1867 ½ schilling is $400 / $1,400, whereas Gibbons 1998 quotes £95 /
£150. The designs of the early Heligolands are very similar, and so more
reasonably priced options would be the 1873 ¼ schilling (Sc7 SG5) or ¾ schilling
(Sc10 SG7) stamps at £26 and £29 mint respectively. Both catalogues warn of the
many reprints in existence.14.8 Straits Settlements starts in September 1867 with
surcharges on Indian stamps. Later that year the first real stamp arrives,
Sc10 SG11.14.9 I cannot find the Honduras ScC6 airmail in Gibbons
Simplified.14.10 Mackay is confusing on Turks (and Caicos), including
in Turks Is the 1917 War Tax and 1935 on Turks and Caicos stamps.

Notes:15.1 Orange River Colony (a.k.a. Orange Free State) Sc#3,
above, was issued 15 years
before Sc#1 (½ d brown), with Sc#2 (½ d orange) even later in 1897.15.2 It took 42 years for Azores to produce a real stamp,
the 1910 2½ reis lilac.15.3 Fernando Po (or is it Poo)'s first commemorative barely
qualifies for the title. It is an overprint of a 1929 Spanish issue celebrating
the Seville and Barcelona exhibition.15.4 Madiera's stamps for 60 years from 1868 were
overprints of Portugal's stamps: none of them are particularly affordable and
forgeries are commonplace. The firs real Madeira definitive is the 1928 3
centavos.15.5 Fernando Poo's #1 is its only stamp using that design
and so there is no cheaper alternative value in a first set available.15.6 For anyone who, like me, has difficulty in finding the
North German Confederation in Scott, it is at the end of the German States, just
before Germany itself.15.7 The two 1869 Gambia imperforate issues (4d brown and 6d
blue) are both expensive. The same design was used for the perforated issues of
various denominations until 1897 and so the sensibly-priced 1886 Sc17 SG30 4d
brown might be considered at £2.75 / £2.15.8 For Hyderabad, Scott's #1 (½ anna brown, SG1) and #3 (2a
green, SG3) were issued in 1871, leaving #2 as the first stamp.15.9 Gibbons Simplified, for Transvaal, does not
distinguish between imperforate and rouletted.